| SF Real Estate Buzz has moved. . . | September 16th, 2009 |
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We are pulling up stakes and migrating over to my SFHomesExaminer Blog. To see my latest blog postings, please visit me there. I’m making the move because my Examiner page is pulling more traffic. It’s nowhere near as pretty as this site, but it’s more robust, more entertaining, and covers a broad range of topics. I will likely leave my Market Reports, CleanOffer link, and opportunities to sign up for the weekly Buzz on this site. Ultimately, however, you will be able to also find all of these things over on my new page. My most popular postings from the past five years are still here. The Buzz will always remain a resource for information that remains relevant regardless of market conditions: negotiation, property disclosures, finding the right home, proper staging– all of it is here. To search and find your favorite topics, use the box in the upper right hand corner. Eventually the best of The Buzz will be copied over to the SFHomesExaminer site. So bookmark me there. I look forward to your visits! |
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| Love Letters to SF | September 14th, 2009 |
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When I listed my condo in the Hayes Valley at 201 Laguna, I scrambled about online to find some colorful words to describe this hip, happenin’ neighborhood. What I dug up was the 7X&’s “Love Letters to San Francisco” a contest from a few months back where readers submitted tributes to their most beloved corners of the City. Here’s a link to some of their heart felt words: |
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| Market Update and Market Prediction | August 30th, 2009 |
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As of easrly August, the current SF median house price was $785,000 (down from $891,000 two years ago). It has been ticking up since March. For condos/TICs, the median is $619,000 (down from $775,000) - it has been going up and down since January, which was a low point of $610,000. Not that median prices can be impacted by factors besides change in value. I predict a pop in recorded sales prices for November and December. Fall activity in San Francisco runs high between Labor Day and Halloween– each year we see more properties move at higher prices during that time. After Halloween the market begins to slow down as buyers look forward to Halloween and drop out of the market during the holidays. The properties left on the market begin to go stale, and discouraged sellers either pull their homes off the market or become prepared to further negotiate. I find the last two months of the year to often be my busiest. The buyers that remain in the market are highly motivated and sellers are more willing to concede on price and terms. The approaching New Year also creates a sense of urgency as buyers and sellers alike are eager to wrap things up before December 31. |
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| New Listing! 201 Laguna, #11 | August 29th, 2009 |
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The sign is up! The sign is up! And we’ve got some cool photos up at www.201Laguna.com. I will be there tomorrow (Sunday) with bells on from 1-4 holding it open. Hope to see you there! |
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| Greenies, Plan Ahead! PARK(ing) Day is Coming! | August 21st, 2009 |
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Open space, anti-car activists take note! September 18 is your day to ‘take back the streets’, or at least the edges of them, by staking your claim to a parking space and turning it into your own little piece of green heaven.
Park(ing) day has become such a phenomeenon, that ReBar launched a social networking website to expand their program internationally, to “facilitate sharing the collective knowledge and experience of participants worldwide.” To get on board, just logon and follow the instructions and learn how to “Park” it. |
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Originally created by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design collective, | Condos sales up, but is there a downward trend? | August 10th, 2009 |
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Declining prices are function of inventory. The number of condos for sale has increased monthly since the beginning of 09, with 1,048 condo units for-sale at the end of June 2009. About a third of those condos are in South Beach, SOMA, and Mission Bay, where speculation ran highest. Lots of new homes competing with resales and speculative activity during the real estate boom resulted are the biggest reasons for so many available condos. On the positive side, pending condominium sales increased in June 2009 to 248 units. We should take all this news with a grain of salt, since these figures don’t factor in all new homes sales. Word on the street is that developers are not discounting as heavily in buildings like the Infinity and SFBlu. |
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While prices for houses are starting to level, the median condominium sales price ticked down 0.9% between May 2009 and June 2009 and fell 15.2% between June 2009 and June 2008.| Price up but not as high as yesteryear. . . | August 8th, 2009 |
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Additionally, pending sales showed improvement from recent months, rising to 255 single-family units under contract in June 2009 from a cyclical low of 104 units in December 2008. As sellers slowly adjusted their asking prices and expectations, the number of active single-family units on the market fell from a high of 847 units in October 2008 to 710 units in June 2009 Nearly one-quarter of all active single-family units and closed sales are located in the Southeast District, an area of the city with a high concentration of distressed properties, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Bayview, Hunter’s Point, and Outer Mission. The heightened concentration of sales at this end of the market, combined with fewer home sales in more expensive parts of the cityhas weighed-down the single-family median home price. Although a large proportion of single-family home sales activity is concentrated in the Southeast District, the jump in the number of closed sales in two of the city’s higher priced areas during June 2009 resulted in the significant rise in the median sales price from earlier in the year. The Central District, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Noe Valley, Mission Dolores, and Haight-Ashbury, and the North District, which includes the neighborhoods of PacificHeights, Cow Hallow, and Marina, accounted for 50 singlefamily home sales in June 2009 or nearly one-quarter of all single-family homes sales in the city. |
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The San Francisco single-family median sales price rose 3.3% between May 2009 and June 2009, the third consecutive month of median home price appreciation. However, prices were 6.8% lower from one year ago.| Why the Market Has Deaf Ears to a Seller’s Wants and Needs | July 28th, 2009 |
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Here are just a few things buyers don’t care about: Buyers don’t care about the emotional and financial investment you have in the property: This includes what you spent fixing it up, how much you have borrowed against it and the many happy years you have spent there. They don’t care what you need out of it to cover your closing costs. They don’t care what your last appraisal says it’s worth They don’t care what you think the house across the street sold for They don’t care what your tax bill says it’s worth They don’t care what you have it insured for They don’t care how expensive the homes are in the community or neighborhood you are moving to. Here is what buyers do care about when deciding what to offer for your home: They care about the recorded selling prices for your nearest ‘comps.’ If they see a declining market, they are likely to offer a price lower than your most recent ‘comp.’ They care about your home’s condition. If you’re place is squeaky clean, they’ll pay more. If it’s not, they’ll factor every inch of work, cosmetic and otherwise, into their offering price. They care about the kind of loan they can get. Buyers today number crunch today like never before. Affordability is key. Higher rates or a larger downpayment will result in a lower purchase price. They care about where they see the economy going. As a group, buyers are naturally risk-averse. In a difficult economy, they are even more cautious and want to know they’re getting a good deal. |
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Over and over again, we have to remind our sellers that the buyers coming through their homes are indifferent to what you need and want to get for your home. | The Montgomery Offers Sweet Deals on Studios | June 19th, 2009 |
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There are only four studios left at The Montgomery, but they are all well priced, and they all are high enough up to clear the view of the wall on the building’s South side. All are 489 Square feet. Prices start at $350,000. All sales include three years of free parking in the building next door. For more information call 415-738-7214. |
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| A really “Goode” job | May 24th, 2009 |
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Interested candidates need to hustle up and get their job application in by June 5– along with a video of you explaining why you’re the best person to deliver the Murphy-Goode message. |
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This topic of a job offer in the Wine Country only remotely relates to real estate and life in San Francisco– but I’ll make the reach and include it because My Favorite People (i.e., clients) need jobs before they can buy homes and this one pays almost enough for you to afford to buy one here. San Franciscans love their food and wine.
